01 Advent 4th Wednesday in Advent

            Full of Grace.  Brimming with benevolence, packed crammed with compassion, teeming with tender-heartedness, replete with affection.  Not too shabby at all.  It is good to be full.  Well I guess that is true as long as what you are full of is good.  But more often than not it is good to be full.  And most anybody will tell you this.  A lot of people spend a lot of time striving to be full.  We want to fill our bank accounts with cash.  We want to fill our homes with stuff.  We want to fill our bellies with food.  We want to fill our lives with activity.  Fullness is a virtue in our world…

            You all have heard of the question.  The glass, is it half-empty or is it half-full?  The pessimist says that the glass is in fact half-empty.  I mean look at it, you only have this much in there.  Look at all the extra space that isn’t filled up.  There is just so much more to be had and yet this glass does not have it.  This view is not so much concerned that there is more out there as it is concerned that I don’t have more of what is out there. 

            However the pessimist is not limited to materialism.  This person looks around and sees nothing but trouble in the world.  To be sure there is a lot of trouble in the world, but this is the only thing that the pessimist notices.  They look around and the only things in view are wars, death, destruction, sickness, pain, suffering and injustice.  The pessimist perceives these things and becomes discouraged, and loses hope.  He wonders how is it possible for anyone to be anything but pessimistic with all evil that there is in this world.  Or if the problems of the world are not enough to get her down, the pessimist can focus on the troubles in her own life.  She compares her situation to that of the people around her and she always comes up short.  Nothing she does is good enough. 

The problem with the pessimistic view is that it is not necessarily an accurate view of reality.  It is true that there is a lot of bad out there, but it is not all bad all the time.  The pessimistic view looses sight of the good and beauty that does exist in our world.  Is the glass half-empty or half-full?  There is no doubt about it.  That glass is certainly half-empty.  This is the answer of the pessimist.

            The optimist would disagree.  The optimist says that the glass is half-full.  Never mind about the rest of the glass, look at how much water is in there.  It could always be worse.  There could be less water in the glass, but that is not the case.  This glass is half-full.  We are half-way to the top. 

            Sure a glass half-full is not as good as one that is completely full, but it is better than one that is empty.  The optimist looks around at all that he has and is thankful for what he has.  It may not always be as much as he would want, but he knows that it is certainly enough.  The optimist looks around the world and sees the evil, suffering and injustice in our world, but doesn’t allow that to be the only thing that she sees.  The optimist focuses on the beauty and good in our world.  During this time of season she celebrates that generosity of people as they give to charities.  She enjoys the time together with the people in her life.  She would much rather focus on and dwell on the good in life, and to celebrate the things that are worth celebrating. 

            The problem with the optimistic view is that it is not necessarily an accurate view of reality.  Sure things are good, but they are not all good all the time.  Is the glass half-empty or half-full?  There is no doubt about it.  That glass is half-full.  This is the answer of optimist.  What do you say? 

            I would say that neither answer is good.  Why does their have to be only two options?  Especially since we know that both the optimistic and the pessimistic view are not always accurate representations of reality?  I would suggest a third view.  It is not a new view, just one that is not normally considered in the glass question.  This third view is the view of the Psalmist.  The Psalmist says, “My cup runneth over.”  It is not just full, but it is saturated.  Every molecule of the cup is touched by the water, so much so that the water is unable to be contained by the cup.  So the water flows out of the cup.  The water overflows. 

            You see the optimist and pessimist approach the glass question from an earthly point of view.  The answer does not account for what cannot be seen.  The psalmist, however opens our eyes to a new perspective.  For we can now consider the glass question from God’s point of view.  Is the glass half-empty or half-full?  The answer is neither the glass is overflowing.  No matter how much health or wealth you have or don’t have as the case may be, the fact of the matter is that God pours out into our lives the same amount of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy.  And that amount in an abundant and amount.  It is an amount that fills our glasses and not just full but overflowing.  It is truly an awesome thing.  And once we are filled to overflowing our Lord keeps on pouring out his blessings into our lives.  This doesn’t come because of anything we have done to deserve it.  No, it comes because of our God’s great great love for us.  That love was so strong that he sent Jesus to be our savior and he came and he lived among us, moved into the neighborhood as the Message paraphrase puts it.  He suffered and died in our place and on the third day he destroyed the power of death in his resurrection. 

            The psalmist says, “My cup overflows.”  Indeed all our cups are overflowing with God’s love, and kindness, forgiveness and approval.  But these gifts were not meant for you and me to keep to ourselves.  If they were, we would have our cups filled to the brim.  But we are meant to share them with the people around us.  That is why are cups overflow so that what is poured into them will spill out into the lives of the people around us.  God’s love and kindness poured out into my own life, enables me to pour love and kindness into the lives of others.  God’s forgiveness of my sins enables me to forgive the sins of those who have hurt me.  It also enables me to announce, no to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to those who need to hear that good news.  What an awesome gift and blessing.  My cup, your cup, our cups overflow.

            Full of Grace.  Brimming with benevolence, packed crammed with compassion, teeming with tender-heartedness, replete with affection.  What an awesome God we serve.  What great love he pours out in our lives.  Are you full?  Yes.  And then some.  Amen.